I tried to pack a lot into my time in Indonesia, although my Fulbright grant was for just six months. I not only gave lecturers and held seminars in Religion in American Culture and Afro-American Literature. I was also privileged to speak at a number of other campuses around Indonesia — in Medan, Surabaya, Malang, Jakarta — and elsewhere in the region — in Malaysia, Australia and New Zealend.

Whenever I went off to give presentations, I always offered a choice of topics in advance: ‘Sixties Students Radicalism as Viewed From the Nineties’,’Sport as Religion in America’,’Hollywood and Religion’ and so on. These topics indeed prompted curiosity and discussion, which was my general idea in putting them forward. With some I was able to give multimedia presentation involving slides and music.

Fortunately, the Fulbright people in Washington Convinced me that for someone like myself, involved in the study of comparative religions, there’s no more fascinating place to live than Indonesia — and Yogyakarta in particular. They were right! It was particularly stimulating and enlightening for me to talk with Muslims around the country. Discussions after my presentation at Islamic universities were always lively. And it was most interesting to live in a nation where ninety percent of the people are adherents of one faith but where so much attention is paid to religious tolerance.

My most memorable personal experience here ? Probably the dark night last June when my son and I began to climb Mt. Merapi shortly after midnight. We were halfway to top when an incredible blinding rainstorm suddenly came upon us. We made it to the top only because our guides told us going up under such conditions was actually less dangerous than going down. But when we reached peak at dawn, the clouds miraculously parted and felt as if we were literally on top of the world. I guess we were!